Windshield wiper assembly

ABSTRACT

A wiper blade is provided with a carrier and a mounting element for the carrier which has an elongated channel provided with an open end. An end portion of a wiper arm is releasably insertable into the channel through the open end and a latching spring of strip-shaped configuration is loosely slidably accommodated in the channel and provided with three longitudinally spaced standout detent portions two of which engage the end portion of the wiper arm at spaced locations and one of which releasably engages a portion of the mounting element.

nited States Patent r 1 Kolh Get. 39, 1973 I WINDSIIIELD WIPER ASSEMBLY[75] Inventor: Erich Kolb, Eisental, Germany [73] Assignee: Robert BoschGmbH, Stuttgart,

Germany [22] Filed: Oct. 26, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 192,369

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 26, 1970 Germany P 70 39639.3

521 IU.S.C1. ..1s/2s0.32 51 1nt.Cl. ..'B60s1/40 58 Field of Search..15/250.31,250.32,

[56] References Cited I UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,550,180 12/1970 Arman15/250.32

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,190,348 4/1965 Germany I5/250.32

Primary Examiner-Peter Feldman Attorney-Michael S. Striker [57] ABSTRACTA wiper blade is provided with a carrier and a mounting element for thecarrier which has an elongated channel provided with an open end. An endportion of a wiper arm is releasably insertable into the channel throughthe open end and a latching spring of stripshaped configuration isloosely slidably accommodated in the channel and provided with threelongitudinally spaced stand-out detent portions two of which engage theendportion of the wiper arm at spaced locations and one of whichreleasably engages a portion of the mounting element.

9 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1 WINDSIIIELD WIPER ASSEMBLY BACKGROUNDOFTHE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to a windshieldwiper assembly, and more particularly to an improved windshield wiperassembly for automotive and other vehicles.

Windshield wiper assemblies are known in many constructions already.Generally speaking they all have a wiper arm which carries a mountingelement or bracket on which the wiper blade is secured. The mountingbracket is usually releasably connected with the wiper arm,and for thispurpose is frequently provided with an open-ended channel into which afree end portion of the wiper arm is insertable. An elongatedstrip-shaped latching spring'is accommodated in the channel and providedat one end with arightangled end portion which engages an abutmentshoulder on the wiper arm end portion. The spring is of spring steel andcannot be very readily manufactured with the bent-over end portionbecause the latter must be very short due to the very limited availablespace in the channel, and because the bending-over of such short portionis difficult to carry out because it cannot be properly grasped forbending purposes and because after bending it has a tendency to returnpartially towards its original planar position.

Of course, such windshield wiper assemblies are manufactured inextremely large series, meaning that each individual component of suchan assembly is similarly manufactured in such large series. Thereforeany simplification in the manufacture of an individual component willresult in significant overall savings which can of course in turn betranslated into lower'selling costs for the component and, ultimately,for the complete assembly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly it is an object of the presentinvention, generally speaking, to provide the improvements justoutlined. v I A More particularly it is an object of the presentinvention to provide a simplified windshield wiper assembly.

Still more particularly it is an object of the present invention toprovide a windshield wiper ,assemblylin which the latching springutilized is of such construction that it can be readily andlessexpensively manufactured than heretofore possible.

In pursuance of the above objects, and of others which will becomeapparent hereafter, one feature of the invention resides in a windshieldwiperassembly which, briefly stated, comprises a wiper blade, a carrierfor the wiper blade and a mounting element for the car-.

rier provided with an-elongated channel having an open end. A wiper armhas an end portion adapted for releasable insertion into the channelthrough the open end. An elongated latching spring is slidablyaccommodated in the channel and comprises at least three detent portionstwo-of which can reach the end portion at longitudinally spacedlocations and one of which releasably engages the mounting element inthe region of the open end thereof.

The latching spring is in conventional manner constituted by astrip-shaped length of spring steel from which the detent portions arestruck out as latching or detent tongues. With this construction onlyrelatively small bending angles of the latching or detent tongues withrespect to the general plane of the spring are necessary, muchsmallerthan as was previously the case, and they can be effected withoutany difficulty during the manufacturing operation.

According to a further concept of the invention the end portion of thewiper arm may be provided with a recess at one side into which one ofthe detent portions of the latching spring engages, and at the oppositeside with a projecting latching nose, and at the opposite end of thechannel, which is also open, it is advantageous if a wall portion of theones bounding the channel is bent into the open end so as to provide adetent for the inner end of the spring so that the latter cannot bepushed out this opposite open end.

. The latching spring is retained against undesired withdrawal from thechannel if, in accordance with a further concept of the invention, thelatching spring is provided intermediate its inner end and the detentportions with an abutment rib which cooperates with a further ribprovided on one of the inner walls bounding the channel and limits theextent to which the latching spring can be withdrawn through thefirst-mentioned open end of the channel. Advantageously the rib on theinner wall of the channel at least in part embraces the latching springso as to retain the latter between this rib and one of the wallsbounding the channel.

When the wiper arm is to be released so that it can be withdrawn fromthe channel it is a simple manner to engage a free end portion or endsection of the latching spring which projects outwardly from thefirstmentioned open end of the channel and to displace it in such amanner that the detent portion cooperating with an abutment on the wallbounding the channel is disengaged therefrom, so that the end portion ofthe wiper arm can be withdrawn from the channel. Advantageously, thisfree end section is in form of a springy substantially hook-shapedconfiguration, and located beneath the wiper arm so as to be protectedagainst contact with brushes of automatic car-wash installations so thatno damage can result to such brushes from such contact, or to thesp'ring'from the brushes.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in. particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, .however, both as toits construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a fragmentaryside-elevational view of a windshield wiper assembly according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional detail view, on anenlarged scale, showing details of a part of DESCRIPTION OF THEPREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Discussing now the drawing in detail it will beseen that in FIG. I I have illustrated a windshield wiper assembly 10having a wiper blade 1 I provided with a carrier or mount 12 which isarticulately connected by means of a bolt 13 with a mounting element 14by means of which the wiper blade 11 can be releasably connected with awiper arm 15. This construction is known.

The mounting element 14 is provided with an elongated channel 16 havingopposite open ends into one of which an end portion of the wiper arm canbe releasably inserted as illustrated. A nose or projection 17 ispressed out of the free end portion of the wiper arm 15 at one side andopposite this one side the wiper arm is provided with a correspondingrecess or depression 18.

As reference to FIGS. 2 and 4 shows most clearly, the channel 16 isbounded at one side by a wall portion 19 and at sides normal thereto,that is at the lateral sides, by wall portions 20. The wall portion 19extends beyond the location where the articulate connection with theelement 14 is established, and is provided with an angled section 21which extends across one open end of the channel, whereas the other openend 22 is the one through which the end portion of the wiper arm 15 isto be inserted.

Located freely longitudinally slidable in the channel 16 is a latchingspring 23 of a length of spring steel strip. It servesto releasablyretain the end portion of the arm 15 in the channel 16.

One major surface of the spring 23 abuts against inwardly angledprojections 24a and 24b of the lateral wall portions which thus extendacross a side of the channel opposite the wall 19. Each of the wallportions 20 is further provided with an inwardly extending projection 25the two of which retain the spring 23 slidably in abutment in theillustrated and described position.

The lateral wall portions 20 are provided in the region of the open end22 with a further pair of projections 26 which are bent inwardly andspaced from the inserted end portion of the wiper arm 15 by a certaindistance. In the region of the open end 22 the wall portion 19 is alsoprovided with a recessed section 27 into which the nose or projection 17of the wiper arm 15 is to enter when the latter is inserted.

In accordance with the present invention the spring 23 is provided withfour projections or tongues 28, 29, and 31 which serve as detentelements and are stamped or otherwise displaced out of the general planeof the spring 23. Of these projections, the one identified withreference numeral 28 contacts the abutments or portions 25 of the walls20 when the spring 23 is withdrawn through the open end 22 to someextent. The leading end of the spring 23 abuts against the section 21 ofthe wall portion 19 when the spring is positioned in its intendedoperative position as shown in FIG. 2. In cooperation with one another,the leading end and the tongue 28 together with the section 21 and theprojection 25 assure that the spring 23- once inserted into thechannelcannot become dislodged therefrom unintentionally oraccidentally.

The projection 29 is inclined towards the open end 22 of channel 16 andengages the end face of the end portion of the wiper arm 15, whereas theprojection 30 is inclined oppositely to the inclination of theprojection 29 and extends into the recess 18 so that between the twoprojections 29 and 30 the spring 23 and the end portion of the wiper arm15 are connected with one another.

An end section 32 of the spring 23, provided with the projection 31, isconfigurated as a freely springy or deflectable handle which projectsoutwardly of the open end 22 of the channel 16 when the spring is in theoperative position shown in FIG. 2 with the end portion of the wiper arm15 being inserted into the channel 16. The section 32 is bent in theillustrated configuration (compare FIGS. 2 and 4) to an offset orapproximately hook-shaped configuration in such a manner that theprojection 31 will engage behind the inwardly bent projections 26 of thelateral wall portions 20.

When the wiper arm 15 is to be inserted into the channel 16, the spring23 is first withdrawn from the channel 16 to such an extent that theprojection 28 abuts against the projections 25 as shown in FIG. 4.Thereupon the free end portion of the wiper arm 15 is introduced intothe space between the projections 29 and 30 so that projection 30extends into the recess 18 whereas the projection 29 abuts against thefree end face of the wiper arm end portion. The spring is now connectedwith the wiper arm in such a manner that they cannot be displacedlongitudinally with reference to one another. Now the wiper arm 15together with the spring 23 is inserted into the channel 16, until theleading end of the spring 23 abuts against the section 21 with asimultaneous snapping of the projection 31 behind the portion 26. Whenthis takes place the spring 23 and the wiper arm end portion connectedtherewith are latched and retained in the channel 16 without freedom oflongitudinal displacement or, for that matter, transverse displacement.

When it is subsequently desired to release the wiper arm 15, the latteris grasped adjacent the open end 22 and at the same time the section 32is displaced in the direction of the arrow B (FIG. 2) towards the wiperarm 15, causing the projection 31 to be disengaged whereupon the spring23 together with the wiper arm 15 can be withdrawn from the channel 16until the projection 28 abuts against the portions 25. This is theposition illustrated in FIG. 4 in which the arm 15 can readily bedisconnected from the spring 23 by disengaging it from the projections29 and 30. It should be noted that the projections 29 and 30 need not befully withdrawn from the channel 16, either for insertion or removal ofthe wiper arm end portion, because the play between the wall 19 and thearm 15 in the region of the open end 22 makes it possible to insert thewiper arm at an angle so that it can become properly lodged between theprojections 29 and 30 in the manner discussed above.

The release of the arm 15 from the mounting element 14 can be furthersimplified if the spring 23 is so bent that, as shown in broken lines inFIG. 4, it will abut against the portions 26 in the illustratedposition. When the free end of the wiper arm 15 is to be engaged withthe projections 29 and'30 in such a case, the spring 23 must be movedagainst the arm 15 by displacing the section 32 in appropriate manner.Thereupon the arm 15 together'with the spring 23 is inserted into thechannel as discussed above. Subsequently, when the arm 15 is to beseparated and moved to the position shown in FIG. 4, the spring willautomatically move to the broken-line position and release the armwithout further manipulative steps.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofconstructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in awindshield wiper assembly, it is not intended to be limited to thedetails shown, since various modifications and structural changes may bemade without departing in any way from the spirit of the presentinvention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this inventionand, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent isset forth in the appended claims:

1. In a windshield wiper assembly, in combination, a wiper blade; acarrier for said blade; a mounting element for said carrier providedwith an elongated channel having an open end; a wiper arm having an endportion adapted for releasable insertion into said channel through saidopen end; and an elongated latching spring comprising two sections, oneof said sections being essentially flat for smooth insertion into saidchannel together with said end portion of said wiper arm, the other ofsaid sections being inclined in relation to said one section and havinga detent for positive engagement with 'at least one projection locatedoutside said channel in the region of said open end.

2. A windshield wiper assembly as defined in claim 1, said end portionhaving an end face and a longitudinally spaced recess, and said mountingelement having an abutment shoulder in the region of said open end; andwherein said detent portions are longitudinally spaced tonguesprojecting out of the general plane of said spring and respectivelycooperating with said end face, recess and abutment shoulder.

3. A windshield wiper assembly as defined in claim 1, said springfurther having a free end section located exteriorly of said channel andconfigurated as a handle releasably engages said mounting element in theregion of said open end andthe other two of which engage said endportion at longitudinally spaced locations, one of the latter being anend face and the other a recess in said end portion of said mountingelement; an abutment projection adapted to cooperate with a recessedportion of said carrier and being provided on the opposite side of saidend portion.

5. A windshield wiper assembly as defined in claim 4, wherein saidlatching spring is substantially stripshaped and said detent portionsare longitudinally spaced tongues projecting out of the general plane ofsaid spring.

6. In a windshield wiper assembly, in combination, a wiper blade; acarrier for said blade; a mounting element for said blade provided withan elongated channel having a first and a second open end; a wiper armhaving an end portion adapted for releasable insertion into said channelthrough said first open end; and an elongated latching spring slidablyaccommodated in said channel; and a wall portion provided at said secondopen end and bent inwardly into said channel for engaging said spring soas to prevent the same from moving out of said channel through saidsecond open end.

7. In a windshield wiper assembly, in combination, a wiper blade; acarrier for said blade; a mounting element for said carrier providedwith an elongated channel'having an open end; a wiper arm having an endportion adapted for releasable insertion into said channel through saidopen end; and an elongated latching spring slidably accommodated in saidchannel and comprising at least three detent portions for securing saidwiper arm to said mounting element, an inner end longitudinally spacedfrom said detent portions, and a detent rib intermediate said detentportions and said inner end; and at least one cooperating rib beingprovided on a wall bounding said channel for limiting movement of saidspring outwardly through said open end.

8. A windshield wiper assembly as defined in claim 7, wherein saidcooperating rib extends in direction transversely of said spring atleast' partially embracing the same, so as to retain said spring inslidable engagement with at least one wall bounding said channel.

9. A windshield wiper assembly as defined in claim 3, said free endsection being resiliently deflectable and extending out of said open endof said channel when said spring and said end portion are received andlocated in operative position in said channel.

* ll l

1. In a windshield wiper assembly, in combination, a wiper blade; acarrier for said blade; a mounting element for said carrier providedwith an elongated channel having an open end; a wiper arm having an endportion adapted for releasable insertion into said channel through saidopen end; and an elongated latching spring comprising two sections, oneof said sections being essentially flat for smooth insertion into saidchannel together with said end portion of said wiper arm, the other ofsaid sections being inclined in relation to said one section and havinga detent for positive engagement with at least one projection locatedoutside said channel in the region of said open end.
 2. A windshieldwiper assembly as defined in claim 1, said end portion having an endface and a longitudinally spaced recess, and said mounting elementhaving an abutment shoulder in the region of said open end; and whereinsaid detent portions are longitudinally spaced tongues projecting out ofthe general plane of said spring and respectively cooperating with saidend face, recess and abutment shoulder.
 3. A windshield wiper assemblyas defined in claim 1, said spring further having a free end sectionlocated exteriorly of said channel and configurated as a handle forreleasing said one detent portion from engagement with said abutmentshoulder.
 4. In a windshield wiper assembly, in combination, a wiperblade; a carrier for said blade; a mounting element for said carrierprovided with an elongated channel having an open end; a wiper armhaving an end portion adapted for releasable insertion into said channelthrough said open end; and an elongated latching spring slidablyaccommodated in said channel and comprising at least three detentportions one of which releasably engages said mounting element in theregion of said open end and the other two of which engage said endportion at longitudinally spaced locations, one of the latter being anend face and the other a recess in said end portion of said mountingelement; an abutment projection adapted to cooperate with a recessedportion of said carrier and being provided on the opposite side of saidend portion.
 5. A windshield wiper assembly as defined in claim 4,wherein said latching spring is substantially strip-shaped and saiddetent portions are longitudinally spaced tongues projecting out of thegeneral plane of said spring.
 6. In a windshield wiper assembly, incombination, a wiper blade; a carrier for said blade; a mounting elementfor said blade provided with an elongated channel having a first and asecond open end; a wiper arm having an end portion adapted forreleasable insertion into said channel through said first open end; andan elongated latching spring slidably accommodated in said channel; anda wall portion provided at said second open end and bent inwardly intosaid channel for engaging said spring so as to prevent the same frommoving out of said channel through said second open end.
 7. In awindshield wiper assembly, in combination, a wiper blade; a carrier forsaid blade; a mounting element for said carrier provided with anelongated channel having an open end; a wiper arm having an end portionadapted for releasable insertion into said channel through said openend; and an elongated latching spring slidably accommodated in saidchannel and comprising at least three detent portions for securing saidwiper arm to said mounting element, an inner end longitudinally spacedfrom said detent portions, and a detent rib intermediate said detentportions and said inner end; and at least one cooperating rib beingprovided on a wall bounding said channel for limiting movement of saidspring outwardly through said open end.
 8. A windshield wiper assemblyas defined in claim 7, wherein said cooperating rib extends in directiontransversely of said spring at least partially embracing the same, so asto retain said spring in slidable engagement with at least one wallbounding said channel.
 9. A windshield wiper assembly as defined inclaim 3, said free end section being resiliently deflectable andextending out of said open end of said channel when said spring and saidend portion are received and located in operative position in saidchannel.